Gathering Wheel Project: Roll On Excerpts Report

Gathering Wheel Project – Best Practices in Prevention of Adult Abuse and Neglect

The BC Association of Community Response Networks is very pleased to have received funding from and be working in partnership with the National Crime Prevention Strategy, Community Mobilization Program to "gather up" and share 'Best Practices' in Prevention of Adult Abuse and Neglect. The project runs until June 2006.

Background to the Project

The Problem of Adult Abuse and Neglect
It is estimated that 1 in 12 active seniors in BC experience some form of financial abuse (Spencer, 1997). 5% of older British Columbians living in private dwellings experience one or more forms of abuse at the hands of family members (Podenieks et al., 1990). It is also estimated that 70% of women with disabilities have experienced some form of abuse (Stimpson & Best, 1991).

The BC CRN Foundation / BC Association of Community Response Networks
The Foundation is a relatively new organization that was formed to support BC’s 50 Community Response Networks (CRNs) which are working locally over the long term, to stop adult abuse and neglect. These networks, which are building overall community capacity and in so doing, are creating coordinated community responses to adult abuse and neglect according to a community development approach, were developed in relation to BC’s Adult Guardianship Legislation. Specifically, they connect with Part 3 of the Adult Guardianship Act: Support and Assistance for Abused and Neglected Adults. Many CRNs have been working at the community level for more than seven or eight years.

During that time a lot has been learned about operationalizing the community development principles of broad inclusion, valuing unique participation, power-sharing, and assuming capability/building capacity. CRN members from around BC regularly network via teleconference and the Foundation website about their learning in relation to relationship and team building, awareness raising, public and professional education, protocol development, letting the community know how to get help and keeping track of how the community’s response is working.

An area we had never specifically focused in on, although it is the long term goal of CRNs and the BC CRN Foundation, is: how do we really prevent adult abuse and neglect? How do we define “prevention” and how do we know when we’ve been successful? These questions serve as the basis for the Gathering Wheel Project.

Description of the Gathering Wheel Project

We are gathering experiences with best practices in adult abuse and neglect prevention from diverse community members by:

1. having CRNs and other member groups do initial discussions around some common 'guiding questions'.
2. having CRN members attend their closest regional workshop, designed to identify best practices' in adult abuse and neglect prevention
3. circulating a final report that includes evaluation results and the best thinking about best practices in prevention of adult abuse and neglect to all CRNs in BC at the end of the project.

Project Activities to Date

Thus far we have:

• developed a detailed evaluation framework based on material presented by NCPS at a two-day evaluation workshop
• developed the majority of the evaluation instruments that collectively will show outcomes and impacts of the workshops on participants
• defined “prevention” and “best practices” for our context
• designed the one day workshop
• delivered workshops in Prince George, Prince Rupert, Creston, Kelowna and Kamloops, Parksville/Qualicum, the North Shore

Preliminary Impressions About the Project

Diverse workshop participants are:

• very interested in applying the Gender Lens to CRN projects and are interested in exploring other “lenses” as well
• intrigued to be better able to define what their CRN does or has been doing that constitutes “prevention” primarily in relation to primary and secondary prevention and how and what the CRN does that can contribute to changing community culture
• happy to be grappling with what constitutes a “best practice” in preventing adult abuse and neglect
• excited by the outcome/impact nature of the project’s evaluation and are looking forward to receiving the final report which will gather local wisdom from around BC
• fascinated by how the CRN approach is so consistent with the NCPS approach to crime prevention through social development
• re-energized by the opportunity to meet and share together what they are doing and learning with other CRNs in their regions

Resource Materials

Abuse Prevention

Best Practices - Abbotsford	Best Practices - Powell River
Best Practices - Kelowna	Best Practices - Vancouver
Best Practices - Kootenays	Best Practices - Victoria
Best Practices - Mt. Waddington

CRN Development

Best Practices - Kelowna	Best Practices - Powell River
Best Practices - Kootenays	Best Practices - Victoria
Best Practices - Mt. Waddington

First Nations

Best Practices - Abbotsford	Best Practices - Mt. Waddington
Best Practices - Kelowna	Best Practices - Victoria
Best Practices - Kootenays

Multiculturalism

Best Practices - Abbotsford	Best Practices - Kootenays
Best Practices - Kamloops	Best Practices - Mt. Waddington
Best Practices - Kelowna	Best Practices - Victoria

For More Information...

…about the Gathering Wheel Best Practices in Prevention Project, or to find out when the next regional workshop is in your area, please contact any of the Mentors.

This Project is funded by the National Crime Prevention Strategy,
Community Mobilization Program